Bradley Sowell of the Chicago Bears reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Rams in the third quarter at Soldier Field on December 9, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

CHICAGO – The Rams gave up a safety, then a touchdown to a 312-pound offensive tackle. Jared Goff kept throwing passes to nowhere, and then to navy blue uniforms. For the first time in a long time, they looked uncomfortable.

Was it chattering teeth or just a night of double left-footedness by the team that came in with a lordly 11-1 record? That is to be determined, but the Rams’ 15-6 loss to the Bears on Sunday was an axle-shaking bump in their road.

The last time the nation got to sit back and watch the Rams in prime time, they responded with 54 points and seven touchdowns. This time the Rams got six and zero. They had the ball for only 23:11, they ran the ball only 13 times, and Goff suffered four interceptions as his team went 3-for-12 on third down. The discombobulation intensified as the noise in Soldier Field rose and as the temperature dipped.

“I think we got a little rhythm there early in the fourth quarter,” guard Rodger Saffold said. “We started moving the ball, but then it stalled out.”

It primarily stalled out because the Rams called two time outs, with more than 11 minutes remaining, either because their personnel wasn’t aligned properly or they couldn’t decipher the Bears’ defense. That drive ended with a 40-yard field goal try by Greg Zuerlein that bounced off a goalpost.

The Bears were the energetic, innovative team, with offensive tackle Bradley Sowell catching a touchdown pass from Mitch Trubisky in the third quarter. The Rams kept tripping over yellow flags, nine penalties in all, and they kept letting punts bounce needlessly. They were in the red zone twice and are still looking for that touchdown. They assumed possession three times in Bears’ territory and got three points out of those trips.

It was borderline inconceivable to see the new Greatest Show on Turf get stuck in first gear.

“It’s hard to imagine something like that happening,” said receiver Robert Woods, noting that Goff was sacked three times and hit seven times. “The pressure on the quarterback was a big factor for them. We’d be running downfield, and I’d come out of my break, and Jared was already running.

“They kept stopping us on first down, and we wound up in third down situations that are tough to deal with. They used their base defense against our ’11’ personnel (three receivers, one back, one tight end). Their guys in the secondary were as good as they looked on film. You got to give them a lot of credit. They made a lot of plays out there.”

Rams head coach Sean McVay walks off the field after a rough night at the office — a 15-6 loss to the Chicago Bears in which the Rams were held without a touchdown for the first time since their 2016 season finale. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The Rams defense also had three interceptions, but they weren’t good on third down, and even their MVP candidate was inconsequential. Aaron Donald was credited with one hit on quarterback Mitch Trubisky and got one initial tackle and one assist.

But some of that was the Bears’ plan, with the running backs attacking the flanks and with Trubisky, an excellent athlete who throws his share of wayward frisbees, going to the zone-read to freeze the Rams’ linebackers. Chicago clicked off 5.5 yards per rushing play.

“Every time I see the Rams play,” said Bears’ coach Matt Nagy, “I see No. 99 flipping the game by making one big play. He’s something special.”

Maybe it’s not a universal formula for beating the Rams, because it takes personnel, and there were a lot of heretofore unseen factors that went into this night. But Atlanta eliminated the Rams from last year’s playoff by hogging the ball and limiting Todd Gurley. Here, Gurley ran 11 times for 28 yards and caught three passes for 30.

The Bears won unanimous decisions on both lines, and because they didn’t need to bring many blitzers to hassle Goff, they could play two safeties deep. Normally the Rams’ receivers are so wide open it appears they rose through a trap door. On this night they were wearing Bears’ coverage like a parka, and yards-after-catch were few and far between.

The Rams had only one play that exceeded 20 yards, and that was a 29-yarder to Woods. The longest run was 19 yards by Justin Davis, with :25 left on the clock.

Both coaches had their gimmicks. Punter Johnny Hekker hit Gerald Everett with a pass off a fake punt for a first down. The Bears tried to substitute a whole punt team, but lineman Bobby Massie bowled over an official and the play was whistled down.

Then Nagy threw in three people wearing uniform numbers that began with a 7 on the goal line. Trubisky lobbed a TD pass to Sowell, a seven-year tackle who tips the scales at 312.